How Long Do You Have to Make a Personal Injury Claim?

For many personal injury claims in England and Wales, the general limitation period is three years from the date the cause of action accrued, or from your later date of knowledge where that applies. Different rules can apply in some circumstances, so legal advice should be obtained as early as possible rather than waiting to see how an injury settles.

Usually the cause of action accrues on the date of the accident, so the three year period runs from then. Where you did not know, and could not reasonably have known, that you had a significant injury attributable to the defendant, the period generally runs from the date of knowledge instead, which can be considerably later. Which starting point applies depends on the facts, and it is a question worth taking advice on rather than assuming.

It is the date on which you first knew, or ought reasonably to have known, that you had a significant injury and that it was capable of being attributable to the act or omission of the defendant. The test is not simply what you actually knew, but what a reasonable person in your position would have known, and it can therefore operate even where you were not aware of the legal significance of what you knew. The date of knowledge matters most where a condition develops gradually rather than appearing at once.

Different rules apply to children. For a claim brought on behalf of a person under eighteen, the limitation period generally does not begin to run until their eighteenth birthday, which means that in most cases a claim can be brought at any time before they turn twenty-one. A claim on a child's behalf is conducted by a litigation friend, and any settlement has to be approved by the court. These arrangements differ from an adult claim, so advice should be taken about how a particular case would be handled.

Where a person lacks the mental capacity to conduct a claim, different rules apply. The limitation period may not run while that lack of capacity continues, or may be extended, depending on the circumstances and the relevant provisions. In such cases a claim is usually brought by a litigation friend, and the court's approval is required to settle it. Because the position depends on the individual circumstances, this is an area where advice should be taken promptly rather than a conclusion drawn from general information.

Fatal accident claims follow their own rules, and the position is more complicated than in a claim brought by the injured person themselves. Broadly, the limitation period for a claim under the relevant legislation generally runs for three years from the date of death, or from the date of knowledge of the person for whose benefit the claim is brought, if that is later. Because the rules and the recoverable losses depend on the individual circumstances and the applicable legislation, and because different categories of claim can arise from the same death, this is not an area where a general summary is a substitute for advice.

Yes, and it is important not to assume the three year rule applies. Applications to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority follow the CICA scheme rather than the ordinary civil limitation framework. The scheme applies its own time limits, which in most cases run from the date of the incident and are generally shorter than three years, although the scheme does allow for an extension in limited circumstances. The distinction matters, because a CICA application and a civil claim are different routes with different rules.

Where an accident occurs outside England and Wales, the standard three year period should not be assumed to apply. Jurisdiction, the applicable law, any contractual arrangements and the applicable limitation period can all differ depending on where and how the accident occurred, and in some cases the relevant limits are considerably shorter than three years. Any claim arising from an accident abroad needs to be considered on its own facts, and early advice is particularly important.

Once the limitation period expires, the claim is generally statute barred, which means it can no longer be brought and a defendant is able to rely on that as a complete defence. That is why the limitation position is usually the first thing to establish when considering a claim. If you are approaching the deadline, that is a reason to seek advice immediately rather than to wait, because a claim that would be straightforward with time to spare becomes considerably more difficult once the deadline is close.

In some circumstances the starting point can be later than the accident — for example where the date of knowledge applies, or where the claimant was a child or lacked capacity. Beyond that, the court has a discretion to allow a claim to proceed outside the limitation period under the relevant legislation, but that discretion is exercised only in particular circumstances and it is not something to rely on. Planning on the basis of an extension would be unwise; the safe approach is to take advice before the deadline rather than after it.

No. Waiting is one of the most common and most damaging mistakes people make. It is understandable — you may want to know how you will recover before deciding — but the limitation period runs regardless, and evidence such as CCTV, accident records and witness recollection becomes harder to obtain as time passes. Medical evidence can be updated as a condition changes, and a claim can be progressed on an interim basis, so there is no need to delay in order to establish how an injury will settle. Advice can be taken at any point without committing to anything.